An Accidental Touch
by Xzeihoranth
Summary: Sometime before the Beacon Dance, Blake and Yang accidentally brush lips in the library. Ruby is amused. Weiss is not. Needless to say, this changes things in ways the girls struggle to find out.
1. Beginning

Blake was reading in the library when she felt a hand on her shoulder and a familiar voice saying "Hey..." in her ear. She turned her head without thinking and her lips brushed against Yang's. She'd _kissed_ Yang. In the back of her mind, she registered the other girl emitting a squeak of some sort.

Ears burning, she stood up and pushed herself away from the table and her partner. As she disappeared into the shelves, she could still see Yang's face in her mind's eye, lips parted in surprise, eyes still wide. "Blake, wait!" Yang said, but Blake couldn't bring herself to stop, as much as she wanted to.

It didn't take Yang very long to catch up. She was either faster than Blake had given her credit for, or she had known where Blake would go. Neither seemed unreasonable; there was always more going on with Miss Xiao Long that met the eye. She found Blake hiding behind some shelves less than ten feet away from the table she'd been reading at. "Blake?" she said, in that ridiculous soft voice that made Blake want to go punch a hundred Grimm. "It's all right. It's fine." She held out her arms, causing Blake to flinch and turn away. "Accidents happen."

"It...wasn't an accident." Blake mumbled.

Yang lowered her arms. "What?"

Blake seized her moment and lurched forward. She'd tried to be smooth and swoop Yang up in a big romantic kiss, but misjudged the distance between them and hit her nose against Yang's. "Ow!" Yang said, and Blake's hands flew to her mouth. "What was that for?"

"I'm sorry!" Blake whimpered. "I- I was trying to kiss you, but I didn't think you were that close, and-"

"It's fine!" Yang laughed. "I've had way worse than that." Her laughter stopped abruptly. "Wait, did you just say you were trying to kiss me?"

"...yes?" Blake said, scuffing her shoe on the floor and refusing to look Yang in the eye.

Yang started to say something else, but Ruby's voice caused her to shoot up straight and turn to face the source. "Yaaaaang!" her sister whispered loudly. "We're gonna be late for lunch!"

"I'll be right there Ruby!" Yang whispered back, giving what she hoped was an easy confident wave.

"Have you seen Blake anywhere?" Ruby asked, her voice a little too flat and innocent for Blake's liking.

"Uh, nnnnope!" Yang stammered in response. "What's up?"

"Oh." Ruby said. "Are you sure? I can see her hair coming from behind the bookshelf." Blake buried her face in her hands. "And you keep touching your lips for some reason..." Yang winced and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Have **fun**!" Ruby sang as she and Weiss walked away.

"You aren't going to just let her get away with that are you?" Weiss asked suspiciously.

"Nope!" Ruby declared.

Yang and Blake cast uncomfortable looks at one another. "Well that could've gone better." Blake muttered.

"Could've gone worse though, right?" Yang asked. Blake shrugged. "So what was that you said about kissing me?" she added slyly.

Blake blushed as she leaned in close.

"So." Yang grinned, a little while later. "Was it good for you too?"

Blake turned a page in her book. "What do you mean?"

"You know..." Yang shrugged. " _It._ "

"Yang, we kissed. We didn't have-"

"I know, I know!" Yang raised her hands as if fending off whatever word Blake might have chosen to say next. "But it was my first time and... I just wanted to know if I did a good job."

Blake lowered her book a little. "Really? Your first time?"

Yang nodded, her face turning red.

Blake brought her book back up to eye level, but reached out and squeezed Yang's right hand. "You did a good job. Maybe we can practice again sometime soon."

"'Sometime soon'?" Yang asked. Her shoulders slumped.

"Yes. I'm about halfway through this one."

"Oh. Okay." Yang said, trying not to sound hurt.

As she started to walk away, Blake dropped her book to her lap with a sigh. "Yang, wait." Yang turned her head a little. "I... I just need some time to think. My last relationship-" Her stomach churned. "-didn't end well, and when I'm reading, I can think about things without...really thinking about them." Now it was her turn to turn her head, unable to even try to find Yang's eyes over her suddenly hunched shoulders. "I know it doesn't make much sense." she began, only to be caught off guard by Yang spinning around and dropping to her knees in front of her.

Yang pulled her off the wall and into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry." she muttered, and Blake looked sharply at her (as best as she could given their proximity to one another). "I wasn't even thinking about you. Not really. I just... it felt really nice to kiss you, and I wanted to do it again really bad."

"Yang, are you crying on me?" Blake asked.

She felt Yang stiffen against her before she let her go. "Sorry." she sniffed. "I know you don't like getting wet."

"It's okay." Blake said, and found herself smiling. "I think I can manage just this once." Suddenly her hand was on Yang's cheek, brushing away a tear with her thumb. _When did that happen?_ And then she was kissing her again, her tongue stealing out to wrestle briefly with a startled Yang's.

"Blake Belladonna!" At the sound of Weiss's voice, both Blake and Yang broke apart like guilty children. Blake hit her head against the wall with a wince, dislodging a plant pot from the windowsill above her. Yang lunged forward and caught it inches above the ground, and carefully put it back where it belonged before she turned around sheepishly. "I will not have you besmirching the name of Team RWBY by canoodling in public!" Weiss said, hands on her hips.

Blake attempted to hide behind her book, only for Weiss to pull it down and glare at her some more.

"Wow, Yang..." Ruby said from behind Weiss. "You don't waste time, do you?"

Yang was as red as Ruby's hood.

Weiss looked from Blake to Yang, then back to Blake, then back to Yang. She cleared her throat, suddenly aware that people were starting to stare. "If you must engage in such behavior, at least do it in the privacy of our dorm room." Yang lit up at that, but Weiss raised a finger sternly. "And _only_ if Ruby and myself are not present." she added. "There are some things we simply do not need to share."

"Yes ma'am!" Yang said, snapping a salute. Weiss rolled her eyes. Yang winked at Blake. "See you round then partner." With that, she made her way out of the library, stopping briefly in the hall to pump her fist in exultation.

Weiss glared at the group of curious students until they went back to their own business. Blake dove back into her book, grateful for the lack of prying eyes. "Guess that leaves you and me." Ruby observed, looking around and flapping her arms for lack of something to do. "So when do we get to try that?"

It was Weiss's turn to turn red now. "Not out loud!" she hissed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'm kind of back. I upload more on AO3 though.


	2. Morning, noon and night

The alarm had already gone off once that morning. Someone had thumped it back to snooze. No one knew who, likely not even the person who'd turned it off. Now it was going off again, and nobody seemed to be in range to repeat the favor. Weiss said something approaching an "ugh" and clamped her second pillow over her head. Blake blindly reached out a hand for a book, found one that felt heavy enough, and threw it as hard as she could in the direction of the clock. There was a thud as the book made impact, a crash as the clock fell to the ground, and a sound that defied explanation as the clock came apart. "Thank you." Yang groaned. She rolled over, and promptly fell back asleep.

But then the radio kicked in over the intercom and that was that. Team RWBY fell out of bed in varying states of alertness and began their morning routines to the strains of Everybody Loves A Happy Ending. _"Wake up. Your time is nearly over. No more the supernova, and no action guaranteed."_

"This song is entirely too cheerful for this early in the day." Blake slurred her words drowsily as she applied her makeup.

 _"Wake up. You've had an operation, ideals above your station. Too much reality."_

"You think this is cheerful?" Yang groaned, examining herself in the mirror. "Owww. I have bruises in places I didn't think I had places."

"You got hit harder than any of us yesterday." Ruby remarked. Of all four Huntresses in the room, she looked the most like her normal self, although that was a relative statement. "And we still don't even know who that was in the train." She looked anxiously at her sister.

"We made it out, didn't we?" Yang said with an easy-seeming shrug. "Stopped the White Fang, captured Torchwick, and killed a nice even number of Grimm. I call that a win." She punched her fists together and the bathroom lit up with a flash of heat.

"There's a lot we don't know." Blake said, and everyone could sense the anger that had bubbled back below the surface. "We just have to hope things become clearer soon..."

"Is that _optimism_ I hear?" Yang said, nudging Blake gently in the ribs.

 _"Wake up, you're holding on to nothing. You know you're only bluffing. As dead as autumn leaves."_

"Someone has to be." Blake said. She stepped forward suddenly and kissed Yang dead on the mouth. "I was worried about you yesterday." she murmured when she broke away only to go back in for another one, much to Yang's delight.

"All right, that's enough." Weiss barged into the bathroom and shooed the other girls out. "It's my turn." She slammed the door behind her.

"Blech!" Yang said loudly to break the tension. "Morning breath!" Blake smiled quietly. She wasn't the only one who sometimes had trouble dealing with her emotions.

Ruby's stomach rumbled loudly. "You guys go on ahead to breakfast." she said. "I'm gonna wait here for Weiss so she doesn't have to come in alone."

"That's so thoughtful!" Yang beamed, grabbing her sister in a hug and squeezing a little harder than she meant to.

"Yang-! Breathe-! I need to...breathe-! You need to...!" With a melodramatic gasp, Ruby resigned herself to her fate. "You're a hugging machine..."

The corners of Blake's mouth lifted by a full half-inch, no mean feat for her.

 _"And all your love will shine on everyone…"_

Even the previous day's assault on Vale didn't stop the cogs of Beacon from turning. Classes were held, and students expected to attend, despite the celebrities in their midst. CFVY, JNPR, RWBY, and even the transfer students Emerald and Mercury were expected to recount their roles in the battle, and if they declined even once, the stories quickly blew out of proportion in the way that rumors do. At one point Pyrrha was said to have defeated seven King Taijitu by herself, while Coco Adel mowed down an entire horde of Goliath before Nora could have her fun. The latter spawned its own set of rumors, including a duel between the affronted Nora and Coco (and bets placed between teams on who the winner would be). "The winner of course would be Zwei." Ruby said. "Zwei always wins." Her teammates nodded solemnly.

During study period, Team RWBY found themselves in the library. Their minds were not on their work; each of them was distracted with memories of the last time they'd been here. Blake and Yang kept stealing glances at one another when they were sure no one was looking. They were wrong, of course; Weiss cleared her throat pointedly and they both dove back into their books, ears burning.

When the bell rang and everyone had started packing up, Blake took advantage of the chaos to speak to Yang for a moment. "We should talk later." she said quietly.

"About what?" Yang asked, her usual case of butterflies-in-stomach-when-being-near-Blake-or-even-thinking-about-her-itis suddenly turning painful.

"You know, us." She turned to leave, adding over her shoulder, "It's not bad news if that's what you're thinking."

She knew Blake was trying to be reassuring, but Yang couldn't help worrying the rest of the day. During Port's class, when she found herself sitting next to Pyrrha Nikos due to one of the professor's impromptu seating changes, she even asked her, "Hey Pyrrha? Do you...think Blake likes me?"

"Of course she does." Pyrrha said. "She is a part of your team."

"No." Yang blushed. "I mean _lllllllllikes_ me."

"Oh!" Pyrrha beamed. "Well. I may not know much about love, but I've seen the way she looks at you. And if that's not love, then you did a terrible job fighting all those Grimm yesterday."

 _Like this day couldn't get any worse,_ Yang thought to herself as she let her head fall down onto her desk. _Even Pyrrha's making fun of me._ From the corner of her eye she could see Pyrrha put a hand to her mouth and smile sheepishly at her, and Yang wished she were somewhere else entirely.

With nothing else to do after dinner that evening Yang headed back to the dorm, hoping to find Blake there. Weiss was the only one there, however, doing her homework, diligent as always. "Hey." Yang said. Weiss looked up. "You seen Blake anywhere?" Yang asked, trying to sound casual.

Weiss pursed her lips. "I believe she was headed outside." she said hesitantly. "She didn't seem to have a purpose in mind, so you'll have a hard time finding her unless she wants to be found."

"No problem." Yang said. "I'll just follow the trail of broken hearts and besotted admirers she leaves behind her. Seriously, I think she got the most attention out of any of us today, and I don't think they even know about you-know-what." Yang bristled as she thought of how much worse things might have been. She'd seen how protective CFVY had been of Velvet, not letting her out of their sight even once. Coco's reputation had done a little to ease the harassment, but if Blake had been the one being bothered, Yang had no idea how much damage she might have done to the offending parties. Aloud, she said "Thanks Weiss!" and was about to leave the room when Weiss pushed back her chair.

"Yang, wait." she said. Yang did so, looking as surprised as she felt. "I know I may not have appeared to be supportive of whatever relationship the two of you have developed, but... I am. I just don't want people gossiping about you. Being a Huntress is hard enough without being subjected to additional scrutiny about your love life."

Whatever Yang had been expecting, this was not it. She blinked. Then she smiled. "Thanks Weiss. I don't know what we have either, but I'm glad to know you're looking out for me."

"Of course." Weiss said crisply. "We team members must stick together." She sat back down and picked up her pen.

Yang decided to take a chance. "And hey, if you and Ruby ever wanna, you know-"

Weiss knocked over her pot of ink. "Yang Xiao Long!" she screeched. "Just what are you implying?!"

"Implying?" Yang asked innocently. "I'm just saying, I think you two'd be good together."

"What makes you think-" Weiss began furiously as she tried to mop up the ink. "-I have even the SLIGHTEST interest in dating that clumsy, foolish-" She launched into a stream of colorful language that Yang was ninety-seven percent certain she didn't mean.

"Whoa, hold on!" Yang said, holding up her hands. "Lady doth protest too much?" She lowered her hands as quickly as she'd raised them. "Seriously though, you need help with that?"

Weiss heaved an overdramatic sigh. "I'll be fine. I think I got most of it before it started setting in. Go..." She waved a hand dismissively. "...make out with your 'girlfriend'." She was far too proper to use air quotes, but Yang could tell she meant them. She smiled at Weiss one last time and left.


	3. It Had To Be You

As soon as Yang stepped out into the courtyard, she was forced to admit to herself that she had no idea where to start looking. _If I was a Faunus, not a cat,_ she corrected herself as the words formed themselves in her head. _Where would I be?_ Her search blurred together into a mix of dimly light faces passing her by, no she was passing them by, and none of them were Blake. Some were talking, some were starwatching, some were engaged in very questionable activities under blankets. Weiss would have told them off, and Yang admitted that the thought crossed her mind more than once. She contented herself with saying "horndogs" in a dismissive manner as she passed them by. "Not like you've got dorms of your own to go to!" she muttered. "Although they might not have the benefit of supportive teammates like I do. I shouldn't judge." She caught a glimpse of black hair and quickened her step. She wasn't really expecting it to be Blake, so she was somewhat surprised when it was.

"Hey." Yang said softly.

Blake turned her head. "Hey." she said in return, following Yang with her eyes as she sat down beside her on the grass and leaned back on her arms to look at the sky like Blake was doing. "How did you know where to find me?" she asked.

"I didn't. Weiss did. That girl sees _everything_." Yang said, widening her eyes for emphasis.

"Oh." Blake said. "Well, hopefully not _everything_." Yang's heart skipped a beat, but Blake didn't say anything else.

"Soooo..." Yang said. "You said we should talk later. Does this count as later?"

Blake shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess. I meant like tomorrow, or..." Then she sighed. "No offense, but I came out here to be alone."

Yang's shoulders slumped. "Oh. That's okay. I should've known you'd need some quiet time after everything that's happened."

She sat up, but Blake said, "You didn't let me finish." Yang looked over at her, puzzled. "I came out here to be alone, but when you got here, I realized that it's colder tonight than I thought it'd be." Blake finally met Yang's eyes with her own. "It'd be a shame if you went inside by yourself. We could keep each other warm."

"You mean like the other kids out here?" Yang joked.

Blake flushed. "No. I meant like this." She took Yang's hand in hers. Yang thought she would die. She pulled Yang down beside her on the grass and together they lay, watching the stars.

 _Play it cool Yang,_ she thought to herself. _Pretty girl's holding your hand. It's fine. Friends hold hands all the time. She has really nice hands though. Really soft. Does she moisturize?_

Blake laughed all of a sudden. Yang knew she was in trouble. "I don't moisturize. I use my tongue." She waggled her eyebrows, and Yang buried her face in her scarf. "I'm glad you think I'm pretty though." Blake added.

"Did I really say that out loud?" Yang mumbled. Blake nodded, smiling. "This is so not my day."

"Maybe this'll make it better." Blake said. She pulled the scarf down and pressed her mouth to Yang's, causing something like a bolt of electricity to shoot through both of them. Yang pulled Blake closer by the front of her vest and kissed her back hard. Blake in turn tangled her fingers in Yang's hair before she realized what she was doing and tried to withdraw.

Yang broke the kiss and grabbed Blake by the wrist. "Don't." she breathed. "It feels good."

Trying not to show how badly that first word had frightened her, Blake hesitatingly twirled a lock of her brilliant blonde hair around a finger. Yang hummed with satisfaction, making Blake's ears tingle. "You like that huh?" Blake chuckled.

" _Yeah_." Yang said. "I think it's like you and your ears."

"One way to find out." Blake pushed her head into Yang's hand. She wiggled her ears to clue her partner in.

It was Yang's turn to chuckle. "That may be the cutest thing I've ever seen." she said, and rubbed Blake's ears gently. Blake's eyes closed almost immediately.

"Just so you know, I'm trying really hard not to purr." she muttered.

Yang laughed out loud at that. "You don't have to." she said. "It's just us, right?" Her gaze drifted to the star-spattered sky and she repeated the words, "It's just us."

"I had a dream last night." Yang said after a while, surprising both of them. "It was about my mother." Blake looked up at her. She knew what a big deal Yang's mother was for her. "I haven't told anyone else this, but...I think I saw her yesterday. I think she saved me from that pink-haired hellspawn."

"What? How?" Blake asked.

"I don't know." Yang said. "I was lying on my back, I was...ready to die-" Blake reached for Yang's hand and squeezed it hard. "-but then I heard some noises, and the next thing I knew the little girl was gone, and I saw someone red and black disappearing into a portal. It's been years, but I remember what she looked like. It was definitely Raven."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Blake whispered.

Yang shrugged. "We all had our jobs to do. I was just worried about Ruby, and you and Weiss and Zwei too, but mostly Ruby. I don't know how she'd be able to cope if I..."

Blake waited. She could tell it was more important to listen than to be heard right now. Eventually Yang spoke again. "In the dream she looked proud of me. Said we had a lot to talk about. I don't remember if anything else happened, but when I woke up, somehow I knew it wasn't real. I don't think the real her is capable of being proud of me. Especially not after that 'fight' in the train car." Tears were welling in Yang's eyes now. Blake was fighting back tears of her own. "That's twice she's left, w-without a w-word..." Yang tried to say something else but her voice was choked off by a sudden sob. Blake hugged her as hard as she could with her free arm as she started crying in earnest. "What did I do?" she asked over and over. "Why doesn't she want me?"

"It's not your fault." Blake said. "I just don't think she was a good person."

"But I'm her _daughter_!"

Blake couldn't think of anything to say to that. She just held Yang as close as she could and hoped it would be enough. Yang cried in her arms for a good five minutes before she stopped, taking deep shuddering breaths to try and calm herself. "I'm okay." she managed to say.

"Are you sure?" Blake asked.

"Yeah. Not like okay okay, but okay for now."

"What does that mean?"

"It doesn't matter." Yang said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's late. Weiss and Ruby are probably wondering what's taking us so long."

"Yang..." Yang looked at her. "I'm here for you."

"Thanks Blake." Yang gave her a hug. "You're the best." She let go sooner than Blake thought she would. "One more kiss before we go? I mean, if that's a thing we're going to be doing..." She scuffed her shoe on the ground the way Blake had in the library. Blake could hardly stand seeing her looking bashful.

She stood up and folded her arms. "What do you think?" she asked playfully.

"I don't know... Yes, maybe?" Yang said. Blake just looked at her. "Is that a yes?"

Blake sighed. She put a hand on the other girl's waist and drew her close. "Of course it is." she murmured before pushing her lips against Yang's.

"You know," Yang said after the kiss had ended. "The fact that you're a Faunus gives petting a whole new meaning."

Blake flushed scarlet. "You have a filthy mind." she scolded her.

Yang just laughed.


	4. But The Crying

There was a noise. Yang ignored it. It happened again, and this time there was a voice alongside it. "Yang, open up."

Yang looked up. The figure at the window looked like Blake. She rubbed her eyes. "Blake? What are you doing there? Wait..." She shook her head in confusion. "Are you even real?"

"Yang, I climbed up the side of the building to talk to you. I have a shadow clone down at the bottom trying to look casual, but it won't last much longer. Now let me in."

Yang got up and opened the window. She reached out a hand, but Blake flinched away. "What happened?" Yang asked. "They wouldn't let you in?" The reality sank in just a little deeper. "Blake, I have _armed guards_ at the door. What is going on?"

"I wanted to ask you that." Blake said. She hopped in through the window and went to stand in the middle of the room, far away from Yang. "What were you thinking?"

"What was I _thinking_?" Yang asked. She could feel tears in her eyes. She fought hard not to wipe them away. "He attacked me after the fight was over!"

"That's not what I saw." Blake said coldly. "That's not what anyone else saw either."

Now the tears were coming. "Blake..." Yang whispered.

Blake swallowed. "You know about Adam." she said. "You know what happened. I need you to promise me that Mercury attacked you first."

"I know what I saw Blake!" Yang hiccuped. She grimaced, then shook her head angrily. "I've been looking at the footage and...and it doesn't make sense. I-"

"Promise me." Blake could feel her resolve weakening, even though she knew she shouldn't let it. "Please."

Yang took several deep breaths. They didn't help much. "I ppppromise." she stammered.

They looked at each other for a long, long moment. "All right." Blake said at last. The weight shifted on the two girls' shoulders. Yang sighed and sat down on the bed. Though her eyes were looking down, Blake could tell Yang was still trying not to cry. She walked over to her, and as she did, Yang's body language changed. There was some firmness in the way she held her shoulders now, but Blake knew it wouldn't last. She knelt down beside her and asked quietly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Yang said. "I just...I just want to forget it happened, you know? But there are guards outside my door, and they're not letting my own teammates in, and..."

Blake put her arms around her, and Yang, the strongest woman in her life, broke. Blake remembered how Yang had cried several months ago after the Breach. This was not like that. Her tears that night had been subdued by comparison. Now her body was wracked by sobs so powerful she couldn't even give voice to them, tears running down her face and onto Blake's back. Yang felt guilty for getting Blake wet again on top of everything else, and she tried to say she was sorry, but her throat felt like it was closing up and she couldn't seem to get the words out. Blake was trying not to cry as well, because someone had to be strong for them, but her back was hurting from leaning in the way she was, so she had to tell Yang, "Hold on a second." She stood up, with Yang still clinging to her, and sat down on the bed beside her, pulling her close again to their joint relief. "I feel like something is coming." she said, and only time would give her words the weight they deserved. "And I can't stop it. I don't know why or what it is. All I can do is just hold you." She hugged Yang tighter. "And it'll have to do." she said, and a tear slipped out of her eye.

"Can I kiss you?" Yang asked, looking up, a desperate plea and a longing in her voice and her eyes, made all the more raw by the pain with which she spoke, her throat ragged like her nerves.

"Please." Blake whispered.

Their lips and tears and noses met in desperation. Hands clutched and clawed at places they hadn't dared before. Blake found herself lying back on the bed as Yang rained searing kisses upon her lips and face. "You're so beautiful Blake." Yang breathed as she moved down to Blake's neck.

"Mmm..." Blake sighed. "You are too Yang..." Nevertheless she grabbed Yang lightly by the wrist as her hands wandered a little too far and began unbuttoning Blake's vest. She shook her head, trying not to let on how much her body wanted it even as she felt panic rising in her gut. Her wounds from Adam were still too raw.

"But-" Yang bit her lip. "No, you're right."

"We're not ready for that." Blake said softly.

"I'm sorry." Yang flushed red. "I got carried away."

She looked as though she was about to cry again, so Blake let go of her wrist and put a hand on the side of her face. "You're allowed." she said. "So long as you know when to stop."

"Which is never according to that footage." Yang looked away, her brow furrowed.

Blake drew her in close once more. "You don't have to think about that right now." she murmured. "Get some rest."

Eventually they did, lulled to sleep by the beating of the other's heart and the warmth of their skin and the melancholy sound of Anticipation that came in over the intercom, as if the station manager shared their fears. _"We can never know about the days to come, but we think about them anyway. And I wonder if I'm really with you now. Or just chasing after some finer day…"_

* * *

They were hunters in training, being taught to seek out monsters and destroy them for the good of humans and faunus alike. What was not taught, but what was learned regardless, was that sometimes monsters seek them out in turn.

The end began in fire and flames. And pain. He beat her down with ease, the words she'd been running from for so long driving deep into her soul again and again. _Useless. Betrayal._ And worst of all, _love_.

Then he stabbed her twice, once in the stomach and once in the heart. He always knew how to hurt, she would reflect later. That was something that had never changed. So when Yang arrived, he did what he did best. He hurt.

Yang was trying to be her knight in shining armor. But some swords are made to cut through shining armor, and his did just that. Her right arm was severed in an instant, her aura depleted in even less than that. She hit the ground and rolled. Blake was screaming inside her head. In all likelihood, she hadn't stopped since.

"Look after her," she'd told Sun when he found her. "She's stronger than she thinks, but-" She cut herself off and ran.

Yang didn't say a word for months. They all tried to get her to talk: her uncle, her father, her sister, her dog, even Sun in his way. Nothing. Then her sister left, traveling to Haven with Ren and Nora and Jaune. She always found it difficult to sit and wait, something that Yang had once thought they had in common. Then her uncle left. Soon it felt like the world was leaving her behind, discarding her broken body and spirit once it had taken all it could.

But she would cry. She would mourn. She would remember all she had ever lost.

And through this, she would begin to heal.

* * *

Author's Note: That got dark quickly, huh? Much like the series itself.

This series isn't done either. I plan to have a story about Yang beginning to recover, and then a story set in a vague future period after Volume 4 which features a trope that I'm seeing a lot in fanfiction these days: resurrection.

The last two lines are paraphrasing Dr. Calixto Narváez's statement at the end of SCP-2737's documentation, which is a fantastic and oddly inspiring read. I hope this read inspired you too.


End file.
